Historical Society plans family-oriented Sunday programming
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
The Whitley County Historical Society is trying something, well, new…but old…yet new.
In the New Year, the Society will host a series of monthly programs on Sunday afternoons in hopes of bringing together families for learning and sharing together.
The idea isn’t necessarily new. Past programs held on weekends at the Whitley County Historical Museum on Jefferson Street have been very popular, but there hasn’t been planning cohesion until now. Past events were held occasionally and weren’t necessarily planned very far in advance.
Society president Chuck Jones, county historian Jeanette Brown and volunteer Dr. Clark Waterfall put their heads together in recent weeks to come up with several programs that would appeal to a wide range of residents. The programs will be offered free of charge to the community.
The first program, entitled “The Well-Dressed Rebel” will begin at 1 p.m. on January 13 at the museum. The program will cover Revolutionary War uniforms and will be presented by Columbia City resident Mark Parker.
On February 10 at 1 p.m., Dr. Clark Waterfall will present “Three Rivers in Time,” a discussion on the Miami Indians and their home, Kekionga (Fort Wayne).
A Civil War Round Table will be held on March 9 at 1 p.m. The community is invited to attend, sharing photographs, artifacts and stories relevant to Whitley County’s Civil War-era men and women.
Building upon local interest in antique weapons, enthusiasts are invited to visit the museum at 1 p.m. on April 13 for an old gun “show and tell” of sorts. Attendees are invited to bring in their own antique guns and to discuss the guns in the Whitley County Historical Society collection.Jones hopes to plan additional Sunday afternoon programs throughout the year.
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Dr. Clark Waterfall, second from left below, is a well-known local historian and will share the story of the Miami indians in February at the museum. In the photo below, Waterfall was discussing the history of the Miami in Whitley County at the site of their village along the Eel River in Union Township. Below, from left, is Marie Hockemeyer, Dr. Clark Waterfall, Chuck Jones, Duane Hockemeyer, Nicole Harris and Birdie Johnson. The group accompanied Waterfall on a tour of Native American sites in the county last summer.
